Can Britain afford to pay MORE tax? Why the tax burden has hit its highest level since 1969 and what was in the Spring Statement, on the This is Money podcast

With all the shenanigans in Westminster this week you could be forgiven for failing to register we had a Spring Statement at all – let alone clocked its finer points.

Editor Simon Lambert, assistant editor Lee Boyce and host Georgie Frost fill you in on what you may have missed.

It includes forecasts from the Office for Budgetary Responsibility on the UK economy, along with income growth, interest rates, the pound and house prices.

We also have the true scale of the tax burden on families and businesses, with the overall tax take equivalent to 34.6 per cent of Britain’s economy, a level not seen since Harold Wilson was Prime Minister.

Income tax receipts will rise nearly £54billion in the next five years, with steep rises forecast for National Insurance, VAT and Corporation Tax.

A hike in probate ‘fees’ was waved through without a vote or debate in parliament by classifying it as a fee not a tax – but the ONS is now calling it a tax.

The OBR also reveals that two flagship savings schemes have not been anywhere near as popular as planned, while boilers are out – as are feed-in tariffs from solar panels.

How to listen to the This is Money podcast

We publish our podcast every Friday to the player on This is Money, above, and on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) and on the podcast platforms Audioboom and Acast, both of which allow you to listen on desktop, mobile, or download an app. We also now publish to Spotify.

To download the Apple Podcasts app if you do not already have it, go to the App store. Or go to either the Apple App store or the Google Play store on Android to download the Acast, AudioBoom or Spotify app.

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